Sexual Tension
by Alyss Ashworth
Summary: After seeing Ash and Misty fight, Max questions Brock on why the two are always arguing. A vague answer leads to questioning, confusion, and AAML. Oneshot.


Sexual Tension

Ages: Ash-15; Misty-15; Brock-18; May-13; Max-10

Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon, duh

_This is just a fun fic, not serious until the very very end. But I enjoyed it and I hope you will too!_

**Update**_: There is now a sequel to Sexual Tension. It's called That's What She Said-- check out my profile if you want to read more about Max getting overwhelmed by the adult world ;)  
_

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"Do they always have to fight?" Max sighed tiredly and eyed the two teens walking in front of him.

"Yep, pretty much" the older boy at his side told him. "They fought like this the whole time I've traveled with them. Tracey tells me he couldn't get the two to shut up."

"But why Brock?" Max exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. "They fight over every little thing! Whose turn it is to do the dishes, which road to take, whether Psyduck is a water or water-psychic type. It is, by the way, just a water pokemon" he commented with a studious air and a push of his glasses. "Misty was right about that. Ash shouldn't fight with her about stuff concerning water pokemon."

"I know, you'd think he would have learned that by now." Brock shook his head, amused. It took a while before he realized Max was still staring at him, expecting him to say something more. "Oh! Right! You want to know why Ash and Misty fight so much!"

"Yeah!" Max nodded his head.

"Well, one might say it's because Ash is so dense or Misty has anger issues, but I think it's all just sexual tension" Brock stated confidently.

"Uh-sexual tension?" The young boy blinked uncertainly. He had finally encountered a term he didn't recognize. _"Probably doesn't have anything to do with pokemon" _he thought to himself. _"I memorized everything that's in the pokegear and in all those research books Professor Oak gave me."_

"Yeah." Brock missed Max's questioning tone. "After all those years traveling together, it's just been building up. I think this is the only way they can express it." Brock made a face and sighed. "Pitiful, eh? It'd save us hours of listening to their mindless yelling if they just admitted it!"

"Sure" Max agreed hesitantly. He was silent then, trying to puzzle out exactly what sexual tension was. However, the ten-year old mind is not very adapt to solving these types of things, and after some time Max conceded defeat. He looked up to question Brock more closely, only to see he had lagged behind the trio while wrapped in his thoughts. Misty was leading the way, pounding the earth as if she was stomping out her aggression. Ash was behind her, scowling at her back every once in a while. Brock strolled peacefully behind his two friends, and Max twisted around to see May bringing up the rear. His sister was looking at the sky, arms crossed, and seemed to be muttering something to herself.

_"I know! I'll ask May! She'll probably know!"_ Max brightened. He stopped walking so he could drop back and talk to her.

"Hey May, what's sexual tension?" Max asked innocently.

"What?!" May's head snapped down to look at him. "Why do you want to know that?"

"Brock said that's why Ash and Misty fight so much" Max answered, slightly perturbed by her intense gaze.

"Oh" May said in understanding, then smiled mischievously. "Go ask Misty, I'm sure she can explain it better. Besides, I'm trying to come up with combinations for Squirtle to preform in our next contest. I swear I'll beat Drew if it's the last thing I do!" she clenched her hands into fists with a determined glint in her eye. The seriousness of the moment was shattered when she giggled and said, "Hey! That rhymed! Drew, do ..."

"Good for you May" Max rolled his eyes. His sister could be rather -silly- at times, but her advice to ask Misty was perfectly reasonable. If this sexual tension involved her, why _wouldn't _she know about it?

Max trotted quickly up to the front of the band of travelers to speak to the red head.

"Zu!" Azuril greeted him from its place in Misty's arms.

"Hey Azuril, hey Misty" Max acknowledged the baby pokemon and its trainer.

"Hey Max." Misty's eyes softened as she turned to the boy at her side. "Do you need something?"

"I was just wondering if I could ask you a question" he said.

"Of course! You can always ask me Max!" She smiled gently at him.

"Alright" he returned the smile with one of his own. Luckily, when Misty got mad, it was usually only with Ash. She enjoyed the awe Max held her in for being a successful gym leader and was patient with him and his numerous inquiries.

"What's sexual tension?" Max questioned.

"What, did Brock catch you talking to some girl and decided to tease you?" Misty laughed.

"No, he said you and Ash fight all the time because of it" he answered, now even more confused. What did this have to do with him? And when had he been talking to a girl?

"WHAT?!" Misty yelped and almost dropped Azuril. She shot a death glare over her shoulder to Brock, who happened to have caught sight of a Spearow and missed it.

"Is it bad? Should I have not said it?" Max asked worriedly. May hadn't reacted like it was a bad word or something that wasn't to be discussed in public.

"It's not your fault" Misty hissed. Seeing Max's anxious face she forced a smile and said, "Brock's just an idiot and Ash is annoying, that's all."

Sensing the conversation was at an end, Max slowed his pace to put a safe distance between him and the newly irked gym leader just in case something else set her off again. Because of this, he found himself next to May once more.

"She didn't tell me" he complained. This whole sexual tension thing was really bugging him. Why wouldn't anyone give him a straight answer?

"Max!" May groaned. "You made me lose my train of thought!"

"You can't lose what you never had" her brother quipped at her elbow.

May snarled and made to grab his shirt. Max yelped and skipped away. "What do you want?" she snapped irritably.

"Misty didn't tell me what sexual tension is." Max kept a few feet between him and May to prevent further attempts to strangle him.

"Then go ask Ash!" May reached out and flicked his head.

"Ow! I'm going, I'm going!" the boy whined and scampered forward. Max set his sights on the signature red hat and Pikachu and ran to ask Ash about this 'sexual tension.'

"Ash!" he called, puffing a little. He wasn't used to running back and forth this much.

Ash grunted in response. "What's up Max?" he asked rather gruffly.

"Just wanted to say hi!" Max chirped. Ash gave him a side long glance that clearly said 'Yeah right.' "Okay, I want to ask you something" he conceded.

"Pika" Pikachu spoke down to him from Ash's shoulder.

"Yeah, what about?" The trainer echoed his pokemon.

"What's sexual tension?" Max asked bluntly.

Ash snorted, slightly taken aback and amused at the same time. "Why do you want to know?" The teenager asked back.

"Because," Max sighed. This was the third time he had to say this. "Brock said you and Misty fight due to sexual tension."

"What?!" Ash's reaction mirrored Misty's, except he appeared more stunned than angry. "Why would Brock say that?"

"I don't know! That's why I'm asking you!" Max complained. "All he said was sexual tension is the reason why you guys fight so much, and it's just built up over all the years you've been journeying!"

Ash contemplated this for a few moments before he too shot a dirty look at his elder friend. "Jerk" he muttered. "Brock's just a jerk who likes to assume outrageous things" Ash said dismissively to the boy next to him.

Max groaned as Ash lengthened his stride and left the kid to walk by himself.

"This is so stupid!" Max exclaimed and clutched his head. "Why will no one answer me?! I hate traveling with a bunch of teenagers!"

"Sorry, mom and dad said one more year until you can go off on your own." May came up and tousled his hair. "Hey guys, it's getting kinda late, maybe we should stop for the night."

"Good idea" Brock agreed. Misty and Ash made noises to show their assent then gave Brock disgusted looks. "What?" the breeder asked in a hurt tone. Both looked away and started into the woods to find a clearing to sleep in.

An hour later the five of them were sitting around a campfire enjoying dinner. Actually, only May was enjoying her stew. Brock was silent, shifting uncomfortably from under the glares Ash and Misty threw him. Max sat glumly, mad at everyone for not letting him in on the secret that was sexual tension. Misty and Ash alternated glaring and Brock and shooting quick glances at each other. May saw the directions of the small flicks of their eyes and grinned.

_"You got it right Brock," _she thought. _"You were just dumb enough to tell Max."_

The rest of the evening wasn't much different. Everyone cleaned up and got ready for bed. Misty proclaimed she wanted to go for a walk, even though they had been walking all day, and left accordingly. Ash watched her leave, but eventually joined the others in getting into their sleeping bags and whispering sleepy good nights.

Max awoke sometime later with a dry throat and a desperate need for water. He dimly recalled there being a stream nearby and got up cautiously as to not wake any of the others.

The boy slipped out of camp and off in the direction he believed the stream was in. It wasn't long before he heard the gurgle of moving water and ran towards the noise. Just prior to getting there, however, a new noise stopped him in his tracks. Someone else was going to the river. Max hesitated, then crouched behind a low bush to peer out between the branches.

His eyes met a interesting sight. Misty was sitting on the ground by the water, arms curled tight around her knees. He shifted to see Ash enter the scene and sit by the girl.

"Hey" Ash said softly.

"Hi" she answered in the same hushed tone and then they were silent.

Max was about to enter and ease his parched throat when Ash spoke again.

"You'll never guess what Max asked me about today" he began rather tentatively.

"I can try." Misty sighed and rested her forehead on her knees. "He asked you about sexual tension, right?"

"Yeah" Ash said and they were quiet once more. Max's ears had perked up at his name, and now his full attention was focused on the two in front of him. Maybe he was finally going to learn what this 'sexual tension' was!

"Brock's being an idiot, off course" Misty said lightly.

"Of course" Ash repeated.

"I mean," she snorted contemptuously. "There is no tension between us, of any kind."

"Nope, none" Ash said.

"And we only argue," Misty went on. "Because our opinions differ, a lot."

"Exactly" Ash agreed, his voice faltering only a little.

"We're just-friends" Misty forced out, uncurling and turning to look at Ash for the first time. "Nothing else."

"Nothing but friendship between us" Ash confirmed.

The two continued to stare into each other's eyes, expressions the exact same. A strained silence ensued, but it seemed that they were frozen in place, captivated by the other.

"There's no tension between us" Misty reiterated softly. "So I can do this," she leaned forwards to close the already small gap between them and gently pressed her lips against Ash's. Max sat still, stunned by what he was seeing, _What_ were they doing?! He thought they were mad at each other!

Misty slowly drew away, eyes opening to stare back in Ash's brown ones. "And feel nothing" she finished in a murmur.

"Brock's wrong" Ash croaked, unable to look away. They both drew closer so that there was barely a centimeter between their noses. "Why would we argue cover up that we really like each other? How could I like you? You're loud, proud, and a runt."

"And how could I like a boy who's dense, annoying, and over-confident?" Misty responded.

Now Max was really confused. They were insulting each other again!

This time, Ash's lips moved and connected with Misty's. Despite what they said earlier, Max could feel tension rising in waves from the two teens who were now resting head to head, eyes closed and breathing deeply.

"Did you feel anything?" Ask asked, his voice cracking.

"No," Misty answered in what was almost a whine. Then her eyes flew open and she smiled. "But you better try again, just in case."

Ash's eyes opened as well and a surprised look adorned his face. Then a grin appeared to match hers, and suddenly he grabbed her waist and brought Misty into his hold, kissing her passionately.

Max watched, horrified, as her arms snaked up to let her hands trail through Ash's black hair and his settle for tugging her close to his chest. The girl was practically in his lap now, and Max could hear little sighs of happiness escape their lips in between kisses.

The boy slapped a hand over his eyes and closed his mouth while turning to sprint back into camp. If this was sexual tension then he did _not _want to see or know anything else about it.

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_Ah, poor Max! XD Please read and review!  
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